STORIES under the true crime genre have long been the buzz in social media and online streaming platforms. Learning about gruesome accounts and decoding mysteries never fails to keep the viewers on their toes, especially in entertainment mediums like podcasts, movies, books, docu-series, and so on. 

Today, true crime is strongly consumed especially on Netflix, where most series of the said genre have hit the top spots over and over again. Currently, “Dahmer - Monster: A Jeffrey Dahmer story” is the docu-series taking everyone in a whirlwind. But its release sparked ambiguous views from audiences which uncovered the dirt side of the genre’s consumerist culture.

A Monster with No Disguise

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer is originally infamous for murdering and dismembering seventeen men and boys outside the White race; some of those crimes were showcased explicitly in the series. And while the outcome exceeded the expectations of true crime lovers, it also garnered sympathy for the Milwaukee murderer which acted as the catalyst for the controversy of the show.

In TikTok and Twitter, the hashtag #jeffreydahmer drew in millions of engagements with trending videos like fan edits and memes of him, and even real footages (photos and videos) taken during the investigation. However, there were problematic users called out for glorifying Dahmer following the Netflix series — from “shipping” him with one of his victims, “thirsting” over his looks, bragging about tolerating the show’s morbidity, to pitying him after getting beaten up by a fellow inmate. Some users would even justify his mental health due to his broken childhood and home as the force behind his killing spree. Unfortunately, they choose to justify Dahmer’s crimes rather than stand by the victims and their families.

Crime for the Mind

And so the question begs: Is true crime any benefit to our mental health? Before getting to the bottom of this, we first need to understand the phenomenal addiction behind the genre. Psychologist Chivonna Childs, PhD., shares that people have the innate tendency to be curious; in the case of true crime, viewers are curious to “get the glimpse of the mind of a real person who has committed a heinous act.”

With this curiosity, crimes are exposed to enlighten people about current events and solutions to these situations. Apparently, consumption of these sensationalized stories or series has done anything but positive for one’s mental health. With the genre’s powerful touch on our psyche, Childs mentions that consumers risk developing severe anxiety and paranoia [from the] inability to separate these terrifying accounts from their real lives. At some point, people will suddenly feel unsafe going out or even wary of being next to strangers; and this is where you rethink just how much one unnecessarily links true crime stories to their own.

Another problem with overconsuming the crime content is their desensitization to brutal deeds. In a study by the National Institute of Health, “repeated exposure to media violence numbs individuals to victims’ suffering…” which could lead to people gradually losing concern and compassion towards other people and the world. Instead of reducing any more problems to protect the people, the reactions of these audiences will only normalize and perpetuate a state of chaos.

So if you’re wondering if true crime consumption is unhealthy, well, it only ever is when it’s too much — by “too much,” it’s simply experiencing the negative effects mentioned above. People need to realize that even if they deny feeling overly scared about their surroundings or numb over unthinkable cruelty, there should still be a limit to crime intake because no matter what you say or feel, it will always affect your well-being, directly or indirectly. 

There’s no doubt true crime will continue to rack up the list of online trends and recommendations to check out and binge. As a genre mixed with thrill and gore, it is easy to be fascinated by the extent of a killer’s exploitation and fall into the rabbit hole. But audiences still have to be aware of the information and visuals they absorb to be able to understand the impact and consequences it has on them. Feel free to take a break from gruesome narratives when you feel it’s too much.